The video was widely shared online and reported in the media, including by pro-Kremlin Russia 24,
which reported that the video insulted the feelings of religious believers, and
called Sokolovsky “mentally ill.”
Also in August, Sokolovsky posted another video
mocking Russian Orthodox recommendations about marriage and family. Citing the French satirical magazine
Charlie Hebdo as his personal inspiration, Sokolovsky also
wrote several other satirical or critical blog posts about the Orthodox Church.
In September, authorities searched Sokolovsky’s apartment and arrested him on charges of incitement to hatred and insult to the religious feelings of believers, criminal offenses under articles 282 and 148 of Russia’s criminal code. In January 2017,
authorities initiated a new criminal investigation against Sokolovsky on charges of “trafficking in special technical devices [designed] for surreptitious obtainment of information” under article 138 of the criminal code, for having a pen with a video camera, which police officials seized from his apartment during the search. He was found guilty of all offenses at trial.
Following his arrest, a court ordered Sokolovsky held in pretrial custody, initially for two months. Although he was released to house arrest following an appeal, he was
returned to custody on October 28, 2016, after the court found that he had violated his bail terms.
In January 2017, Sokolovsky’s pretrial custody was extended, and he was again
released to house arrest pending the criminal trial.
On May 11, the court ordered him to remove nine videos from the YouTube channel, and banned him from attending mass gatherings for the three-and-a-half years of his suspended sentence. Sokolovsky was then released on his own recognizance. Sokolovsky’s lawyer, Alexey Bushmakov,
speaking after the verdict, said that the case against Sokolovsky was meant to “frighten and intimidate” bloggers and other internet users in Russia and to prevent them from speaking freely online.
The offense of “insult,” one of the crimes of which Sokolovsky was convicted, was added to Russia’s criminal code in 2013, a year after several members of the
feminist protest punk group Pussy Riot were convicted of criminal “hooliganism” in retaliation for their anti-Putin performance in a Moscow cathedral. Parliament adopted a law amending article 148 of the criminal code to criminalize “a public action expressing clear disrespect for society and committed in order to insult the religious feelings of believers.” The law provides no definition of “religious feelings” and sets no threshold for “offending” them, allowing prosecutors and courts tremendous discretion to target critical speech. Sanctions include fines and up to a one-year jail sentence.
Between 2012 and 2016, the Russian government
gained tighter control over freedom of expression through a raft of disturbingly regressive laws, Human Rights Watch said. The laws provide the government with tools to restrict access to information, carry out unchecked surveillance, and censor information that the government deems “extremist,” “separatist,” or otherwise illegal and harmful to the public.
In recent years, those sentenced to or facing prison terms or hefty fines for “extremist activities” have increasingly included
bloggers,
journalists,
political opposition activists,
ethnic minority activists, and other critics of the government, as well as people who
mock the Russian Orthodox Church.
“Criminal prosecution of bloggers and others for peacefully expressing their views shrinks the already limited space for public debate,” Gorbunova said. “Sokolovsky’s conviction once again shines a spotlight on the downward spiral of freedom of expression in Russia.”